Hickey school escapee, 16, eludes troopers

August 23, 2007

A 16-year-old boy who escaped from a juvenile detention center in Baltimore County last month remained on the loose last night after he eluded Maryland State Police troopers who had tracked him to a house in Northeast Baltimore late Tuesday, authorities said.

One of the troopers, Sgt. Steve W. Dulski, fired two shots at a Jeep Cherokee being driven by the youth, who police said backed out of an alley and trapped two law enforcement officers. It is believed that at least one bullet shattered the vehicle's rear window.

Gregory M. Shipley, a state police spokesman, said the youth sped away and has not been found. "We don't think he was hit, but we have no way of knowing until we find him," Shipley said.

The escapee has been identified as Davon Julius, who authorities said escaped from the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in Cub Hill on July 31. Police have said that Julius and Justin A. Russell, 15, were in a van parked at a medical building and managed to flee the grounds when a security officer left them unattended. Russell was arrested Aug. 10 in Northwest Baltimore.

Shipley said troopers assigned to the criminal investigation division and the fugitive unit received a tip that Julius was at a house in the 6000 block of The Alameda, just north of Northern Parkway, and went there about 11 p.m. Tuesday to investigate. Police said officers tried to arrest him as he entered the rowhouse.

Police said the youth broke free and ran to an alley near Glennor Road and Northern Parkway, near Mercy High School, where he got into the blue Jeep with Maryland agricultural license plates that have a small picture of a farm on them.

"Two troopers opened the driver's-side door and attempted to arrest Julius," state police said in a statement. "Julius resisted arrest and was able to start the vehicle. He began to back the Jeep out of the alley, trapping the troopers between the vehicle's open door and door jam.

It was then that police said Dulski fired his semiautomatic weapon twice. Shipley said Julius got away and officers have not found him or the Jeep. A check of hospitals also has turned up nothing, Shipley said.

He said alerts have been broadcast to police departments throughout the region.

Shipley said the two troopers who were trapped suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment. Dulski has been placed on routine administrative leave as homicide detectives from the state and city police investigate the shooting.

Hickey is used primarily as a detention center, or juvenile jail, where youths are held pending court appearances. Officials have refused to disclose the offenses with which Julius had been charged because of state laws governing information about juveniles.